Suzi Trubitz's Serendipity Studio blooms in the desert hills of Santa Ynez, California. She works with materials that are awkward in every way -- heavy, larger than herself, sharp -- and strives to reinvent them. Trubitz's sculptural body of work includes works that are abstracts, cloths, letters, and figures. At the same time she has a series of multidimensional collages made of metal, glass, and mirror. Using the metal sheets as a canvas, she cuts and scars buildings and figures, or working in layers she cuts complex patterns full of motion. From this cold medium she creates layers of leaves, lines of poetry, and streams of blossoms, then sets them over colored bits of glass and found antique mirrors.

Trubitz was born in New York and grew up a “city girl.” She attended Parsons School of Design and Boston University of Fine Arts and worked as a Madison Avenue art director. Now settled in the hills north of Santa Barbara, Trubitz finds herself inspired by more organic materials, such as wood in combination with many other components. She enjoys the challenge of manipulating seemingly impossible materials, but Trubitz takes metal into intricate patterns of nature. She is energized by the challenge of working with metal sheets that require operating welders, plasma torches, grinders and such. The challenge also requires patience and restraint, for one cut through the metal could destroy a pattern that has taken days, even weeks to create. She explains, laughing, “There are no mistakes in steel--no room for them; there is no eraser when you work with a flame.” Or in her case, she creates a body of large sculpture that encompasses balance and sound, pattern and color, intimacy and intelligence.

The process of art making for sculptor Suzi Trubitz involves three stages: idea, trial, and production. Ideas come from anywhere: the energy vibrations of a found piece of glass, a packet of old letters, a poem or song. Her material of choice, large sheets of stainless steel or other plate metals, never hinders her. Instead, she is inspired to try out and create new techniques, which emerge as her determination to bring a project to life takes over. For example, in “Lest We Ever Forget,” her homage to the tragedy of September 11th, 2001, Trubitz attacked the metal sheet from the back and front, drawing the last bit of leaning wall, towering in a biblical haze, with bleeding patterns of bronze shades of patina. This method of "cold cutting" is a technique that creates a burn that does not go all the way through the metal, but leaves its scar. In the background of the piece are smoothly ground waves, suggesting a tornado of elements.

Before embarking on her handkerchief project, "Memories," having found inspiration in a collection of her mother's handkerchiefs, Trubitz played at the steel for months to find a way to make it look and feel like fabric. To create these larger than life pieces of linen and lace, Trubitz worked with the metal, ultimately working it into smooth, touchable pieces. Similarly, in “The Letter,” Trubitz invented a way to create an aging piece of paper, complete with a folded corner, a tear, and a coffee stain, from a sheet of stainless steel.

In “Cherry Blossom Moon,” Trubitz reveals delicate layers of blossoms and leaves, inspired by Chinese paintings on silks and paper, which float over a mosaic of bronze mirror. Her multilayered works are most often patterns of metal over other patterns of metal, over mirror shards or colored glass shards. The final work leads the eye through the space, offering glimpses at inviting rabbit holes through the depths of the layers. The works change in sunlight, glowing amber, red or blue, adding still another layer of vibration and engagement. This piece is an example of how Trubitz works to divide space -- running circles through patterns to create a sense of movement and action.

One of her most intimate and stunning pieces is “And I Knew You All,” which emerged from her emotional response to Kahlil Gibran's “The Prophet.” The piece is a specially rolled 5-foot square, featuring a standing man crossed by a reclining woman, poised over a solid metal textured frame and an intricately cut layered interior pattern which includes some of the context from the poem. A songwriter friend, Michael Colone, who wrote both the music & lyrics, inspired “Lord Have Mercy on Me." The piece features metal figures in emotional states, lyrics from the song, and is layered over a mosaic of silver and bronze mirror, which in turn is layered over a painting on wood.

Trubitz is a self-professed student of life, who lives and creates with intense conviction and freedom. In addition to numerous corporate and private collections in the United States, Europe, and Israel, her works have been seen in galleries, museums, movies and TV.

Suzi Trubitz
P. O. Box 817
Santa Ynez, CA 93460
805-688-0956